How to Use Your Transferable Skills Effectively on a Resume

How to Use Your Transferable Skills Effectively on a ResumeHow to Use Your Transferable Skills Effectively on a ResumeIf you just graduated college or uni and you have only a little or no experience at all, you might be wondering how to appear proficient on your resume or cover letter. Do you lack any of the abilities or skills listed in the requirements for an ideal candidate? The biggest mistake is to not apply whatsoever.Needless to say, if its a senior position that requires a certain number of relevant experience, then you simply need whats required. However, lacking a skill thats required for an entry-level or a junior position should be no stop sign for you.Even without extensive experience, you can make your resume and cover letter attractive for recruiters. First, you should learn how to make use of your transferable skills. Dont you know what skills are those? Read on.What are transferable skills?Transferable skills are skills, capabilities, and talents that you acquired th rough life via different experiences such as school, college, uni, summer camps, parte-time jobs, volunteering, sports, hobbies, etc. Theyre the skills and abilities that are, in a way, a side product of other knowledge or skill. Heres an example the goal of presenting projects and essays at your uni was to get a good grade, but a side product is that youve developed rhetorical skills.Transferable skills are great for two reasonsEverybody has some (even if they dont know about it). College or university has given you much more than just theoretical knowledge.They translate well into specific job requirements. Keep in mind that most companies dont want to hire a robot who can do everything the way they described in the job offer. They need a person who has the potential to do the job right.The reason why transferable skills are so important is they can be used well in many different industries. A good set of transferrable skills is very favored with the recruiters and hiring managers . Having a broad set of transferable skills is especially beneficial for fresh graduates, people with little work experience or those who are about to radically change their career paths.10 best transferable skillsWeve picked for you the 10 best skills you can easily transfer to many different jobs in various industries. Many jobs might require a combination of more skills together so check them all and find the ones youre great atCommunication and Rhetorical SkillsThese are the skills you can use in many different industries. If you often presented your work at college, have experience with speeches, or debating societies, go ahead and mention it on your resume. Or have you had a part-time service job and communicated well with customers? Even better. You might elaborate on this skill in your cover letter and mention a concrete example of your communication qualities.Writing SkillsHave you ever been good with words? Maybe you wrote some great essays at college, took writing classes at uni, started a blog, or contributed to a college newspaper. Your advantage is that unlike with communication skills, you can always base your writing skills with evidence by sending in your writing samples or linking your resume to your blog or personal website.ResourcefulnessBeing resourceful is a great virtue. Resourcefulness is regarded as a sign of intelligence so if you dont get easily scared of the new, always think of creative ways to work things out or adjust well to new situations, think of a particular task or a circumstance where you had to show resourcefulness and dealt with the issue with ease.OrganisationalSkillsIf youve ever helped to organize college/community/society events, demonstrated organizational skills in school, summer camp, family events, etc. you should definitely mention it if youre applying for a job where organizational skills might come in handy (e.g. community manager, project manager, office manager). Briefly describe your duties and how you cont ributed to the smooth running of an event.Analytical SkillsAnalytical skills are useful in many different industries. Theyre valued in business, economic and financial sector, marketing, sales as well as in HR or teaching. If you can easily solve a problem by splitting it into details, analyzing them and come to a solution, then go ahead and make use of this transferable skill.CreativityIf youve ever done anything creative, say, any form of art painting, creative writing or any crafts take advantage of it. If youre a creative person, chances are you can be creative in other spheres than art as well. Maybe you can come up with interesting ideas, creatively solve problems, find improvements and solutions.Numerical / Arithmetical SkillsIf youve always been good at maths or if youve ever demonstrated good calculation skills whether at uni or any part time job, say, youve been responsible for the cash register or accounting or anything similar, you might translate it well into other f ields, too.Time Management SkillsIf youve mastered your own time management, be sure itll be a valued quality in all the industries imaginable. It might seem like the most elementary thing, but in fact, not many people can effectively plan their time, be always on time, make the most of their working hours, prioritize tasks and systematically work on them, so their work has some logical succession. If you can, definitely mention it on a resume and your cover letter.Customer Service SkillsAs a student, you might have worked part time in a restaurant, bar or a caf. Even if this work experience seems irrelevant to your future career, it has taught you valuable skills you can use elsewhere. Being helpful, patient and polite when dealing with people are traits worth its weight in gold. On an interview, you can mention a complicated situation that you handled with ease or talk about a time you helped somebody in distress.Decision-Making SkillsIf youve ever had to make a decision for a lar ger group of people and it came out great, dont forget to give yourself leistungspunkt for that. Decision-making skills are important because your boss wants to know whether youre able to think for yourself, are prompt in deciding whats right and whats wrong and whether he or she can rely on you in difficult situations.Share Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments

3 Bad Reasons Youre Putting Off Quitting Your Job -The Muse

3 schwimmbad Reasons Youre Putting Off Quitting Your Job -The Muse3 Bad Reasons Youre Putting Off Quitting Your JobThere are plenty of reasons that its time to quit your job. For some of you, its because your boss loves sending urgent emails that keep you up at all hours of the night. And for others it may be that youve realized that you hate your current field and its just time for a big change. Whatever the reason is for you, you probably know that you should go with that urge you have to quit and find a new job. Yet, even knowing that, the thought of leaving still makes you recoil in fear and say, Eh, maybe next year.But as someone whos stayed in previous jobs for far too long, Im willing to bet you want me to talk you into the idea of staying put. As comfortable as these thoughts might make you feel in the moment, Im actually here today to call you out on your excuses. 1. I Dont Have Time to Update My ResumeAs difficult as this was for me to admit a few years ago, I said these ex act words to a friend of mine whod grown tired of listening to me complain about work. And the deeper the conversation got, the more I dug my feet in. I cant apply for new jobs without an updated resume, and I cant update my resume because I have swing dance classes on Thursday nights, I said with a straight face. Fortunately, my friend was levelheaded enough to tell me that I was full of it. And that was the wake-up call I needed. That day I started blocking off some time on my personal calendar to update that pesky resume and send out those applications. This will probably require you to find time after work (and say no to a few things that sound way more fun), but seeing an event on your calendar can give you the jolt you need to finally get started. 2. Maybe Things Arent as Bad as I Think They Are Right NowIf youre dragging your feet about quitting your job, chances are that youre afraid of leaving behind a good salary. Or youre tentative because you actually like some of the pe ople you work with. Or youre in the middle of a huge project thats been months in the making. Some combination of things that are making your life comfortable are probably the things holding you back from taking the leap. I was there a few years ago. For a while, the ability to go out for happy hour on a whim makes up for a lot of the terrible things that you deal with at work. But in my experience, as time goes on, even those silver linings stop bringing you joy. And its up to you to ask yourself some tough questions about how much youre willing to sacrifice for that one good thing thats keeping you there. FINDING A NEW JOB CAN BE REALLY OVERWHELMING......and stressful, and hard, and ugh. We make it easier.Amazing jobs right this way 3. Im Probably Going to End Up Accepting a Similarly Bad Job AnywayHeres where your impostor syndrome kicks into full gear. Youre used to having a boss you dont click with. Youve acknowledged that your company doesnt treat you particularly well. And yo uve concluded that its because youre leid good enough for anything better than this. So why bother putting yourself out there, right?At the risk of sounding like a broken record, thats what I told myself a few years ago. Lots of my friends were getting opportunities at great companies, but I figured it was because they were smarter or more talented. Fortunately for me, those people also continued to encourage me to apply for jobs that seemed out of my reach. And while I got rejected from plenty of them, I ultimately ended up landing gigs that I love- including this one with The Muse. So be bold and be willing to put yourself out there. I know it sounds scary, but trust me Youre not doomed to jobs you hate forever.Quittings never easy- even if its a job you cant stand. But as difficult as it is, you might be getting in your own way by staying put. If you really want to move into something different, its time to stop making excuses and start taking some action. I cant promise your sea rch will be easy, but I know that if you dont do anything to change your situation, it cant improve. So get out there and just see what happens

Verbal Communication Is the Top Skill for New Grads

Verbal Communication Is the Top Skill for New Grads Verbal Communication Is the Top Skill for New Grads Verbal communication tops the list of skills employers look for in recent college grads. In fact, a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reports that verbal communication outranks both the ability to work in a team and the ability to make decisions and solve problems the two skills that tied for first place in last years version of the survey.Why is verbal communication so valuable to todays employers? Communication is directly linked to productivity, making it quite possibly one of the fruchtwein critical skills for any candidate to have.Imagine youre in a sales role. Effective communication is going to play a crucial part in winning and maintaining accounts. If youre an internal management candidate, your ability to communicate goals to your team andyour ability to effectively communicate with cross-functional teams aretied to your succe ss.Think about it this way If you have to keep explaining things to people due to poor communication skills, productivity will ultimately go down. Your team may have abfluged attacking a project one way, only to be forced to switch gears once the communication is finally understood. The project will certainly get done, but was the completion of the project delayed? Absolutely, and in todays 24/7 work environment, the phrase time is money rings truer than it has atany previous point in business history.Poor communication skillscan also cause a lot of frustration on both sides. Managers may end up seeing their teams as lazy or leid capable of taking direction, and team members may start to feel resentful of being told they didnt understand the objectives and now have to spend valuable time correcting the project. Over time, these seemingly small things cancause talented people to leave jobs theyd otherwise have loved to stay in.Communication Skills The Packaging That Makes the Differe nceBut back to our job seekers. Think of how you buy products. You read reviews and you look at the price. Things that tip the scales, however, are usually things like great packaging. You may not end up buying theproduct,but you certainly cant help being drawn to somethingingeniously packaged.Dont ever forget that you, the job seeker, are the product. Someone is going to look at your reviews in the form of references and, of course, the price has to be right. But your packaging might just be the thing that gets you hired over another equally qualified candidate.High-level verbal communication undeniably elevates you in the eyes of potential employers. For example, if you share the same idea as another candidate, but you do so much more effectively and powerfully, youll come out on top.Whats Holding Your Communication Skills Back?The biggest factor that can damage the communication skills of an otherwise well-spoken candidate is nerves. Practicing is the best way to overcome this p articular obstacle. Most college career centers will have someone who can help with mock interviews. Use that resourcefor all its worth.The second biggest factor is unpreparedness otherwise known as winging it. The more in command you are of your content, the more effectively youll be able to communicate. Unfortunately, candidates make the mistake of not preparing for interviews because, well, its their experience. How could they not be in command of answers to questions about their own work history?However, when faced with specific questions that really go deep, its pretty easy to get flustered if you havent really thought about how to communicate your experience in very detailed terms.Interestingly enough, realizing that youve underprepared in an interview tends to make you nervous. So even if you arent naturally nervous, a lack of preparation may have you sweating in your seat.The interview isnt the place for you to test out material. Its not open mic night. Practice as much as you can with a few different people. Thatis the best way to build a consensus regarding your answers and what you can do to fix them.If you really struggle with nerves or putting together your thoughts, try a public speaking class. Many classes also tackle persuasive speech, so youll not only be comfortable talking in the interview, but you also just might convince the interviewer to hire you. The benefits will stay with you forever.Michele Mavi isAtrium Staffings resident career expert.